Cecil Moore caught a 55-yard TD pass and returned four punts for 97 yards, including a 51-yard return, to lead ETSU to a 26-0 win over Charleston Southern.

Saturday, November 03, 2001

Charleston, S.C. - Senior quarterback Matt Wilhjelm (Johnson City, Tenn.) hooked up with Cecil Moore (Morristown, Tenn.) on a 55-yard pass play for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Bucs never looked back as they went on to a 26-0 win over Charleston Southern this afternoon. It was the second straight win for ETSU, evening its record at 4-4, while CSU fell to 4-5 with the loss. It was the first shutout for ETSU since a 61-0 drubbing of West Virginia Tech in 1999.
East Tennessee State's defense came up big when it had to, holding Charleston Southern to just 188 yards of total offense. The Bucs also picked off a pair of passes during the contest.
Charleston Southern could not get anything started at the beginning of the game, with the ETSU defense forcing CSU to punt on its first six possessions of the contest. It did not take long for the Bucs offense to capitalize, with Wilhjelm and Moore hooking up for their scoring play on the first snap of the second ETSU drive of the afternoon.
Special teams play got ETSU into position for its second score. Punting from its own 17-yard line on the first play of the second quarter, CSU punter, Jake Stills, had his kick blocked by a furious ETSU rush. CSU fell on the ball at the one, from where Terry Copeland (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored two plays later to make it 14-0. ETSU added a 36-yard field goal from Wes Sands (Columbia, Tenn.) at the 4:56 mark to take a 17-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
East Tennessee State's defense made the first big play of the second half when Tony Tiller (Lithonia, Ga.) picked off his fifth pass of the season on CSU's first possession of the half, setting up a 27-yard Sands field goal.
Moore set up the last score of the day when he returned a CSU punt 51 yards late in the third quarter to the CSU 15-yard line. Three plays later Corey Carter (Greenwood, S.C.) scampered into the endzone on a three-yard juant for the final score of the day.
Wilhjelm finished the day by hitting on 11 of 25 attempts for 142 yards through the air. Corey Carter led nine different Bucs who had rushing yardage with 34 yards on 11 carries. Moore caught a total of four balls for 95 yards and returned four punts for 97 more yards.
Mike Cornegay (Fayetteville, N.C.) was credited with nine tackles to lead the defense, which recorded five sacks on the afternoon. Gerald Sensabaugh (Kingsport, Tenn.) has two of the sacks and recorded the other ETSU interception, his second straight game with a pick.
It will be homecoming at ETSU next week, as the Bucs return to Southern Conference play, hosting Chattanooga in ETSU's final home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m.